Disorderly Conduct and You

Disorderly Conduct and You

Minnesota Disorderly Conduct Lawyer

Disorderly conduct is the crime of engaging in a brawl or fight; disturbing an assembly or meeting; or engaging in offensive, obscene, abusive, boisterous or noisy conduct or in offensive, obscene or abusive language that arouses alarm, anger or resentment in others.

The crime of disorderly conduct is often viewed as a catch-all type of crime to prosecutors. Many different actions by individuals can be viewed by overzealous prosecutors as being criminal. Common examples include: yelling at someone in bar; throwing a snowball at a neighbor kid; and giving someone the “bird” in public.

While it may seem that many actions appear criminal to a prosecutor, but trivial to you and I, the crime of disorderly conduct can carry serious penalties.

Examples of disorderly conduct can include public drunkenness, inciting a riot, disturbance of the peace, loitering in certain areas, fighting, physical altercations, obstructing traffic, use of extremely obscene or abusive language, loud or unreasonable noise.

Penalties: Consequences for a person convicted of a disorderly conduct crime include, but are not limited to: local jail time, fines, probation, restitution, and community service.

Additional consequences can befall people working in human services industries. Many employers have specific policies prohibited their employees from engaging in disorderly conduct both at work and away from the job. Violations of such policies can be grounds for termination.